Inspired!

Glory Edozien: No Room for Mediocrity

Just like everyone else, I started the New Year with great hope and ambition. I wrote down all my goals and put down the strategy with which to achieve them. I cleared out all the extra junk in my room and even went as far as doing a mini redecorating effort, all to set the tone for newness in 2013.
I’m all about tangible activity, activity which produces quantifiable results. Too many people are doing too much in the world for me to sit back and not be part of the bigger picture, plugging in to shape my community and the world at large.

As I discussed my goals and ambitions with my friends conversation turned inevitably to our giant of a country and the quagmire which we find ourselves. Nigerians are possibly the most active people on earth. We are in a hurry to do everything and in the end nothing gets done. My generation is also possibly the biggest contributor to this achievement deficit. All talk and no action, all words and no practice. I have mentioned in a previous article, my general disappointment with what we see today as youth activism. Many of such proponents are themselves worse than the people we pretend to accuse, the only difference is we have the gift of the gab. We’ve been educated and blessed with the power to wield words as swords, blunt as they may be.

We only have to look at Twitter to see the amount of Twitter gods that have arisen over the years. Thousands of followers and sound bites made up with fancy sounding words but no real, tangible achievement to show for it.

Achievements have now taken on a virtual outlook. Why actually get involved in shaping your community when you can talk all day on Twitter. Stand up for what you believe in – only in the comfort of your living room. Normally, I am able to confine the meaningless dribble of these Twitter pundits to social media alone, until they started turning up as panelists on TV shows, presumably to talk more about what they already talk about….outstanding!

Like false prophets we are all clamoring to get attention, whoever makes the loudest noise and gets the most hits on YouTube – this is our value today. Even when we do take interest in meaningful social projects we ensure the press coverage is the equivalent of Obama’s inauguration. Of course the argument is always that such publicity encourages other to follow suit, never mind that the individual is an elected official whose job it is to implement such projects in the first place.

Next time, I meet the requirements of my job description, I’ll be sure to have an event and post the pictures in This Day Style, who knows maybe that may get me a promotion! We are a humorous people aren’t we? We feed the homeless once in 20 years, publish the pictures online and delight in the comments we receive. We build a new 3-kilometer road or put a borehole in a community and publish it in the papers. Hilarious! And the list could go on, but perhaps we aren’t to blame, maybe the yardstick for measuring achievements too have gone awry. After all if a known wife beater could be named as a UN Peace ambassador, it is reasonable to expect that the definition for peace in our generation has indeed changed. After all, I hear that Chris Brown will be opening a halfway house for battered girlfriends! If all I had to do was post a video giving pointless advice in more make up than required to become famous, why should I bother to do anything different. Why bother to do any real work when all I have to be is a ‘fine boy’ and ‘colour block’ correctly at every event. No need to develop any skill or contribute meaningfully to any worthwhile agenda when I can draft 160 character sentences about the ineptitude of my government.

Lets face it people, the sewers of our society are pouring out sewage and we think we are walking in a rose bush. Buried in our community are people doing marvelous work, putting aside hard earned money to send orphaned children to school, establishing drug rehabilitation and half way centers for ex commercial sex workers, teaching abandoned children vocational skills….again the list could go on. Why don’t we, at the very least, look for these people and celebrate them. Let us talk about them and send broadcast messages on their achievements. Let our magazines write interesting features on them. Let us celebrate the worthy and not just the available. Only then will these mediocre offenders actually start thinking.

Recently, as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shaper Community in Lagos, I submitted an application to attend the World Economic Forum on Africa summit 2013. The application process was simple, submit a video answering the following question in 2 minutes..”How are you impacting your world?” let the answers begin….

About Glory Edozien

Glory is the host and executive producer of Inspire Series, the web talk show which uses the collective stories of everyday women to inspire others. She believes women are more than hand bags, hair, make-up and other externalities and is passionate about about pursuing purpose and living above societal conformities. She is also a day dreamer, and romantic at heart who loves TV, food and family. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @inspiredbyglory and read more from her on www.inspiredbyglory.com

Glory, you forgot to mention the obsession people in your country have for Kim Kardashian who does nothing inspiring with her life. Her brand involves hoping from one rich black joystick to another and what does that wide waist and ass do for a living? Can you let me know? That is the person these thirsty Nigerian women/girls admire and are dying to feel and look like. And Chika Ike was humbled that Kim responded to her on twitter.. The height of mediocrity and uselessness.
Also, Tonto promised her fans some money if they could say the meaning of POKO but guess what? Kola the bulldog asked her what it meant and the ode instantly told her what it meant- IZ MA ALTER EGO.
I could also go on about these Nigerian artistes putting out trashy music or celebrating being verified on twitter. And my darling people do nothing to challenge these artistes who are pretty much the main people (besides few of our amazing fashion designers) bringing positive light to Nigeria. I mean our leaders are losers.
So many things need to fixed in Nigeria but we have to fix ourselves. We settle for anything as long as it’s foreign made. Our females are being abused on a regular basis yet nothing is being done. I’m almost frustrated with Nigeria. I do my part in America because I don’t live in Nigeria. I would rather help my people but I do the best that I can. I provide food and company for a homeless woman. I take her out to eat what she wants that day and try to converse with her. I want to do more however, when I move back home, I definitely want to start my organisation for abused women to give them the strength and encouragement because they are not protected in that country.

I wouldn’t say Bella has been a part of the problem.. The website sure has an impact on the way we see things but as individuals we are responsible for the way we act.
Now, I will agree that Bella N and some of the people that comment are guilty of this mediocrity sometimes calling almost anything chic, exquisite, and classy.. Wizkid and his label mates did a shoot and the editor called it chic..really? I also remember when the title of a post was something like Dbanj photographed with his Good Music crew, Jay, and that woman carrying Ye’s baby. The editor of that post seemed too excited but when I clicked on the post lo and behold it was a photo of Dbanj standing behind K.Cudi and Ye smiling. The guy wasn’t even the main the subject he was just chatting with Teyana Taylor behind the other two people.. I was in shock! Like WTF is this? Anyway, I think they corrected that sh*t later.

Bella Naija isnt a not-for-profit organization. Those beautiful pictures you see and comment about, the interesting articles, the news et al are all brought to your PCs and smart phones by employees that get PAID at the end of the month. The truth is that celebrating mediocrity is a very profitable business. The opposite is kind of boring. That tells you how hypocritical we human beings are. xoxo

Glory God bless you, you more than hit the nail on the head. Twitter local champions getting so famous for nothing, toothless bull dogs, all bark and no bite, pose 4 the camera now and take your prize. Only if the real givers could be noticed and appreciated. Also, the line about being “a fine boy and color blocking properly at events”, soooooo true.
we’ve lost it mehn, all sense of value and humanity, all gone down the drain, our generation is one of “instant gratification” all i can say is; GOD HELP US ALL.

The worthy and not just the available. We need to demand from ourselves what is right esp in this our generation. Do not accept mediocrity from ur family,friends, colleagues, tradesmen. Let’s stand up this challenge. Do your bit in your immediate environment.

Seriously, all your comments are justification to what has been said:”standing for what you believe in from d comfort of your living room”, answer the question, truthfully; how are you impacting your world?

GLORY is Back!!! yayyyy, though I was expecting something else sha, but this will suffice. Don’t even care if I don’t care for what she wrote (which I don’t, I understand, I feel your pain, I just don’t care) I’m just glad she’s back, welcome back and NEVER go away again. ciao

I disagree! I do not believe Glory is talking about BN and also do not agree that BellaNaija promotes mediocrity. If they did, I would not visit as I do.

Obviously as an entertainment/lifestyle site, they are bound to feature a mix of articles. What you read is a testament to your own preference.

Often I notice that more “serious” articles have 1 or 2 comments while “Davido’s fan gets a tattoo of his face” has 80. In just the past few days, I have seen so many articles that I have learnt from and been inspired by.

The Girl Who Created Christmas Clothes for Less Privileged Children (Ayo)
Toolz’ goals for 2013
Flower Girl, a new movie by a young FEMALE filmmaker who is barely 30
The Ndani interview with Lisa Folawiyo (Love Her)
Wana’s articles, the Moyo Mamora column, I could go on and on and on.
All the beautiful weddings – which shows how far our wedding industry has come and how we are celebrating our culture
Are they mediocre NO!

I even like the less serious stuff like red carpets because they are always tastefully done on BellaNaija

BN is the type of website I aspire to be featured on while I would cringe and passout if I was on most Nigerian blogs so carry on jare BN

Thank you my dear. Like Glory, its easy for people to sit in the comfort of their computers and smart phones and type rubbish. How anyone can see BN as mediocre is beyond me? Like you mentioned, I have read and come across inspiring articles on these site. BN is a biz! They found a need…people need to be entertained, to fantasize, to dream, to see what is possible in Nigeria, to know who is the IT person or place or event. And voila! She serves up pages of delicacy to fill our longing souls and so we flock everyday to the site. They are making global impact right there in Nigeria. Those commentators have not even bothered to answer the question posed at the end of the article. As for me, I’m making impact through mentoring young people in my church and teaching a class for aspiring project managers. To me it is still little compared to what I ‘m capable of doing if I wasn’t so lazy…lol. I will get up my tooshie one day and do more. BN biko more grease to your elbows. I aint knocking your hustle. Carry go jare and let naysayers watch you speed past them with lightening speed while they are talking.

You know, Miss Edozien, I can’t thank you enough for this gem of an article. For some reason, 2013, even though it’s only 23 days old, has brought about some very hard-hitting truths. I think God is dealing with my attitude and character this year because these articles and some books I am reading read more like biographies. I am really praying for the will, strength of character and discipline to be successful this year. So help me God.

I am impacting my world. I’m doing a fine good job that is impacting the safety of cars produced around the world. I wake up every morning, and I know someone is safe somewhere in the world due to the work my team and I do on making the cars we manufacture safe for driving, and other car manufacturers have adapted similar technology to make driving safer. I have taken up volunteering recently, and absolutely love it. My question to Glory is this, she is also writing from the comfort of her laptop, so she should not pat herself on the back yet. If she thinks she is so above the people she just ridiculed, why is she adding to the attention they receive. If you abhor such people, don’t read their tweets. Don’t follow their gist, abi how did she know of the Lolita video about makeup. It came to her in her dream or what. Sanctimonious woman. Just because you make sound points, doesn’t mean your head isn’t so far up your ass. Secretly you enjoy it yourself. Or how did you know Zacky Aze was given a UN peace ambassadorship? Was it announced on CNN, since that is what you intellectuals watch and listen to. So, if you open the same blogs, read the same tweets, follow the same people, read broadcasts on BBM, what makes you that much more evolved than the people you are dissing. Some people just hide their hypocrisy behind eloquence. Go and sit down woman. Their foolishness is in plain sight, your own foolishness hides behind english. Foolishness is foolishness. Clap for yourself. You have impacted the world today. Iranu ti o da

Olams, the I agree with you 101%, Glory is as vapid as the come, what impact have she made that gives her the effrontery to ask others what impact they have made. Come down from ur delusional high horse, if u are in the league or the likes of Amanda Adichie, Lisa Folowoyi, Beyonce and other great black youths who have made impacts in the world thru their crafts or literally abilities you can then ask that question, but I know you are a twitter troll that has made no impact on her society except to be judgmental, who told you that Chris brown has not made an impact, he raised 25million dollars last year thru his Symphonic of love charity for children of DV, and to feed and provide school supplies for underprivileged students in public schools. I admire people who try to make an impact on their society no matter how small, if people feel the need to televise or announce their charity work, I may not agree but at least they are doing something about it, but to castigate people from your lap top when u are guilty and part and parcel of the same issue, is just being a sanctimonious fraud, you just spoke about yourself and those questions you asked should be the question you ask yourself, WHAT IMPACT GLORY HAVE U MADE IN YOUR SOCIETY APART FROM JUDGING OTHER WHO ARE TRYING TO MAKE AN EFFORT. This articular is so lame and self righteous. You have a platform in BN which you could use to reach out to the youth or make an impact but you choose to base all ur articles on boyfriends, relationships, because you are trying to impress the World Economic Forum’s Global Shaper Community you come up with this lame article, My motto is act and not complain, people might learn from my action and make the change that needs to be made. I am tired of people complaining about everything under the sun, Complaining about others when you are guilty of the same or have not made an impact to differentiate or dissociate yourself from the norm is paying lip service and is mediocre at best.

My spider senses tell me Olams and Bebe are one and the same. Very interesting comments albeit very bitter. This article made a lot of sense and I won’t bother myself nitpicking through your comments. Continue making safer cars ok? Onisokuso

@Edna……..I totally agree with you and I tot I was the only one who noticed how important articles got just few comments compared to those that have nothing to offer in life n u r correct abt BN ‘s platform too. N starting today for me, if the article doesn’t provoke me to action, or to push me to think beyond my horizon or if it doesn’t celebrate those who truly deserve the recognition, den I simply wont comment. U hav to start from somewhere.
To answer your question Ms Glory, for the past few years I have contributed to food banks whose works I saw in de community and I hv volunteered my time to help a cause I believed in.this is the best way I could impact my world right now considering how limited I am in finances. But the little I have, I try to share and wen I find time, I go to soup kitchen to serve the homeless…..I am satisfied Bc I know there is a lot more I cud be doing and sometimes sheer laziness gets a better part of me. I hope that am able to overcome that and that most importantly, I be able to live the life that I preach about on my block.so far so good, its not easy but I pray God to use me n to live by example n not by words………I certainly want to live a mark in the hearts of the people that matter, the widows, the orphaned, the needy n the hungry……..one step at a time n will b there soon.
Thank you Glory for this wonderful piece that got me thinking n also realise that so far, 2013 is on the right path. God bless u.
Vikkyscreed.blogspot.com

well…. i have not commented ever but i must say that all she has said is tru…our values are warped and today’s market if filled with impostors of good will… i believe the rule of the card is ….do your bit…. talk less about the others…time will judge the truth of your works.

Great article lady but start with yourself. I sence you subbed Ebuka Obi-Uchendu and Co. When it comes to humanitarian works, sometimes the people who do them don’t intend to throw attention on themselves but to tell the world there are people and agencies willing to help them in the cases the deal with.
Don’t be too keen in dissing people’s effort. Mind your business.

Very well said Glory!!!!!!!!!!!!!you have made a very vital point and i have made a personnel decision after reading this to ;talk less act more and not complain because complains do not solve any issues!!!!!!!!Am a fan f action action action.

There is so much we can offer in our own little way ;its just so pitiful that nigerians are highly competitive with eachother for no good reason. Its time we look way beyond all the mediocrity that we see and come across…

Thanks for the challenge Glory and i have searched myself and find that I fall very short. I will be making some changes.

May I suggest however in future articles that you try not to make statements that seem like to are subbing people. I may be wrong but you comments about twitting, panels, forums, events and colour blocking fine boys immediately lead me to Ebuka. The point I am trying to make is that there is a risk of the beauty and strength of your message getting lost in what some might consider diatribe.

Glory Edozien, thanks a lot for this thought-provoking piece! Inspired by this: “Buried in our community are people doing marvelous work, putting aside hard earned money to send orphaned children to school, establishing drug rehabilitation and half way centers for ex commercial sex workers, teaching abandoned children vocational skills.” At WWN, we’re challenging ourselves in 2013 with the T.R.A.C.E project: Every woman should go back in time, trace her past and reflect on the teachers, schools and mentors that positively shaped and impacted their lives and then get involved with their alumni organizations and reward those teachers and also contribute resources to rebuild their schools: it may be nursery, primary, secondary schools or even University! Just DO something, anything, to give back. If we can spend thousands of naira on Brazilian, Peruvian, Indian, horse…(feel free to insert any other ancestry or animal here) ‘human hair’ and splurge on ‘designer’ bags, shoes, clothes and undies, we have more than enough to change our society for the better! Let’s stop the blame game and actually get together and DO something. In the conjugation of life’s verbs, ‘TO DO’ is always better than ‘TO SAY’. Glory, thanks again! We are inspired…